Ava Melody
by Moonlight's Rays
Summary: Pitch Black is back, and the Guardians need help. They need Ava Melody, the protector of woodland animals, but her hatred for Jack Frost makes her say no. Will the Guardians be able to find out why she hates him and change her mind, or will Pitch win? (I don't own Rise of the Guardians)
1. Chapter 1

It was a week from Christmas, and Jack was staying in Bugress, by his lake, which always stayed frozen, no matter what. He was welcome to stay at the Workshop and Tooth Palace, but North and Tooth would get annoyed if he froze anything. Even before he'd found out who he was, he was drawn back to the pond.

He sat on his staff in the middle of the lake, his legs dangling beneath him as he made frost patterns across the ice, branching out from the bottom of the staff. It was nearly midnight, so Jamie wouldn't be awake. He didn't mind being alone as much as he used to, because he knew that people still believed in him, or, at least one did.

Suddenly, Jack heard a loud fluttering of wings, and immediately knew who it was.

'Tooth?' He grinned 'No point trying to spy on me, I can hear you.'

No response. He jumped off his staff and slid gracefully to the edge of the lake, trying to find the source of the noise. The sound of the wings were too loud to come from a bird. Jack was becoming worried now, was someone following him? He turned around just as a flock of birds pelted at him, pecking his skin harshly, tearing his clothes, giving him cuts and bruises.

'Help!' he yelled, 'Get these stupid things off me!'

A golden stream of sand made the birds disperse and fly back to the woods. Sandy floated down to Jack, looking concerned. He he conjured the shapes of golden birds and a question mark above his head, as confused as Jack.

'Dunno, they just came out of the woods.' shrugged Jack, using his hand like an ice pack and holding it on a nasty cut in his right arm. 'Thanks, Sandy, you really helped.'

Sandy beamed and pointed up at the night sky where northern lights shone down on the lake, making it sparkle. Jack sighed.

'North wants to see us this late? Must be important, he likes his sleep.'

He looked back at the woods, still puzzled at why the birds attacked him suddenly, but couldn't see anything. He dropped it, but as he flew past the trees into the sky, he heard a soft laugh from the woods.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ava's POV**

* * *

I hate winter. I have to work even harder guiding most of the birds south because it's too cold for them, and it hurts my wings as well. A cold breeze as I tried to get to sleep, too cold. Following where it came from, I followed it back to the frozen lake. That lake was frozen all year round, but it shouldn't be, it means that my birds have to travel far to get a drink.

That wasn't the thing that angered me right then though, it was the boy who was in the middle of the lake, balancing on a stick. He was Jack Frost, the boy I hated most in the world, and the sight of him made me want to scream.

Smirking, I whispered instructions to Robin, my faithful bird companion. He nodded and flew off. A few seconds later, a dozen birds flew past me. I laughed silently as they pecked his clothes, pricked his skin, hurting him harshly.

The birds suddenly parted and flew back to me as a golden whip slashed through the air. I gasped and knelt down on the ground to see if the birds were okay. Luckily, they were alright, just a little disorientated.

It wasn't over. I would make Jack pay. I summoned the birds up and I thought of the ways I could hurt Jack. As they flew over the trees I laughed loudly, if the spirit of winter was so weak, he could be hurt by a couple of birds, then he should see what I had in store for him.


	3. Chapter 3

They landed in front of the workshop's big, wooden doors, and a yeti immediately rushed them inside, shoving Jack a little. North greeted them at the globe room, looking worried. Bunny and Tooth were already inside, looking confused. Bunny was the first one to speak.

'So North, why did 'ya call us over here now? Bit close to christmas isn't it?' asked Bunny, taunting one of the elves with a chocolate egg, 'Did the sleigh break again?'

North rolled his eyes. 'Of course not! That thing is a work of art! It will never break!'

'Then what is the problem?' asked Jack. '_Is_ it about christmas?'

'No. It's a message from Manny. He contacted me an hour ago, and told me-' North was was cut short when the man in the moon cast a shadow in the middle of the floor, showing the silhouette of Pitch Black, the Boogeyman.

There were varied reactions among the guardians. Tooth shrieked and covered her mouth, muttering something to baby tooth. Sandy sighed, as if he knew that this was coming. Bunny groaned loudly, dropping the chocolate egg he was painting, letting the elf catch it and skip off happily.

'Hey! Come back here you little whatsit-' shouted Bunny, failing to run after it because his feet had been frozen to the floor, causing him to fall flat on his face.

Jack snickered, then turned to North, 'So what if Pitch is back? We defeated him before because no one was afraid of him, why would he think that he can do better this time?'

North hesitated, and I could see that he was worried, very worried. Every Christmas he'd get very stressed, he wouldn't tell the us about it, but we could see it, he acted differently, his quickened breathing, and his short-temperedness. He tried to make it better every year, give every child a better day, and he had been doing that since he started, he'd never failed. If Pitch ruined it, North would be devastated.

'According to Manny, Pitch escaped from his lair, and is spreading darkness around the world. He aims to ruin Christmas.' North looked extremely upset, 'And as it's the most important holiday-' Bunny shot him a dirty look '-millions of children won't get christmas presents, and then they won't believe, and then, then-' his normally cheery eyes were becoming misty.

'Oh here you are.' chuckled a familiar, grimy, voice from the shadows 'The big five, who humiliated me, who are now going to pay.' Pitch smiled and emerged from the darkness, as the we readied our weapons. 'Oh, you're not getting rid of me that easily, right this second, millions of my fearlings are around the world, one for each child, bringing them their worst fears.' a satisfied smile crept across his face, 'Aren't their screams beautiful?'

'You horrible MONSTER!' shrieked Tooth, flying forward to hit Pitch, but to be met by just the wall as he disappeared into the shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a stunned silence for a few minutes after Pitch's departure. Nobody knew what to do, or say. Finally, Babytooth broke the tension, flying in front of Tooth's face, pointing at the moon.

'What is it?' asked Tooth, before noticing the light that the moon was shining onto the floor, 'North! Manny has something to say.'

The light shone down onto a tile circle on the floor, making it stand out in the middle of the room. A pillar rose out of it, and projected a hologram standing on top of it. It was a young girl with long hair, full of different shades of brown. She was wearing a long, brown dress, with tree bark patterns.

'A new guardian?' puzzled Jack, staring at the girl with curiosity 'I've never seen her before.'

'None of us have' answered North.

There was a silence for a while. Jack wondered something. He thought all spirits knew about each other from the moment they were created by the Man in the Moon. He imagined how lonely she would be, not even other spirits believing in her.

'Well, we'd better go get her' said Bunny, looking at the hologram, 'Who should go?'

'Ohhhhhh, can I go?' volunteered Tooth eagerly, 'I haven't met a female spirit in years!'

'Okay,' answered North, 'But be quick, we need to stop Pitch.'


	5. Chapter 5

Tooth was scanning the forest below her, searching for the girl from a bird's-eye view. This was the third forest in Bugress that she'd searched, and she couldn't spot the girl.

She sighed, this could take hours-

But then she spotted her, a small figure shooting between the trees. She was too far away to see clearly, but she was sure that it was her. She shot down towards the forest. The girl was faster than her, but she stopped and sat down on a tree branch. Tooth landed on the end of the branch.

'Hey, wake up' she said softly, but she didn't move, 'Wake up!' Tooth called even louder, tapping her arm. She opened her eyes suddenly and stared at Tooth.

'W-who are you?' she stammered, her hands covering her face, looking terrified.

'Calm down, sweetie, I didn't mean to frighten you!' Tooth sounded horrified that she'd scared a child, 'We just want to talk to you.'

'You can see me?' she asked in a muffled voice from behind her hands, 'This isn't a dream or anything, you can actually see and hear me?'

'Of course I can, spirits can see each other.'

Tooth studied the little girl's confused, scared face for a while. She realised that she must not have met any spirit's before, which meant that probably no humans believed in her. She must have been even lonelier than Jack with not even other spirits to talk to. She probably didn't talk a lot then.

'Okay, well let me introduce myself first,' said Tooth softly, sitting down on the branch next to the girl, trying to calm her down. 'I'm the tooth fairy, but you can call me Tooth. I collect teeth from the children around the world, as well as their memories.'

There was a pause before the girl responded. 'My name is Ava Melody,' she mumbled, 'I'm the protector of birds. Why did you want to talk to me?'

'We need your help, Ava, you'd better come with me.' replied Tooth, 'Can you fly with me?'

Ava smiled slightly, and stood up on the branch, spreading her magnificent brown wings behind her.

'Wow.' Tooth gasped 'Well, it makes sense, since you are the spirit of birds.'

They shot off into the sky towards the north pole, where the Guardians were waiting for them.


	6. Chapter 6

Tooth was gone for quite a long time, and everyone was very tense. Bunny grumbled.

'Why do we need this girl anyway? How is this different from last time?'

Sandy made a series of golden pictures over his head. North translated them. 'Pitch has gained the power to control fearlings all over the world, without him needing to be there. Manny must have chosen her to be able to fight them all.'

'But how come none of you know who she is?' asked Bunny

'She must not be a spirit of protecting children.'

'Then why-'

He was interrupted by the sound of wings, coming from the door. Tooth entered, leading a girl in behind her. She looked younger than she had on the hologram, and she had birds hovering around her. Her eyes were chocolate brown, and they stared around the room in wonder. North walked up to her, and held out his hand, which she shook.

'Santa,' she whispered, 'You're real!'

North laughed loudly, 'Well of course I am, who do you think brings all your christmas presents?'

'I guess I should have known, but I'm still surprised that you can see me, no one else has for about three hundred years.' said Ava in a sad tone. The other Guardians looked at each other in surprise, why would Manny create such a young spirit, and leave her alone for three hundred years? Jack was a young adult, he was mature and knew how to take care of himself, but this girl looked about thirteen.

'I'm Ava Melody, the protector of birds.'

'Nice to meet you, Ava. This is the Easter Bunny, Sandman, and there's Jack Frost, he's just gone to get his staff, he left it in his room.'

Ava froze and turned to face North, looking enraged. Her wings reappeared behind her back, startling Sandy, Bunny, and North. She was trembling with fury. The birds around her head were now circling her speedily, matching her mood.

'Ava?' said Tooth nervously, obviously scared by the birds, 'A-are you okay? What's wrong?' The question was answered a second later when Jack hopped through the open door, balancing his staff on his foot. He didn't see Ava, because his eyes were fixed on his staff.

'Guys, is she here yet? I-' he was cut off suddenly, when an eagle flew through through the window, and hoisted him up three feet in the air by his hoodie, making him drop his staff. He yelped and struggled, waving his hands around madly. The other Guardians ran over to try and help him, as Ava snickered, but the eagle wouldn't let him go until Sandy knocked it out with his dream sand. North caught Jack before he fell, and Tooth turned to glare at Ava.

'What the hell?' she shouted 'Why did you do that?'

Ava glared at all of them, especially Jack 'I'm not helping any of you if _he's_ involved' she snapped, nodding her head towards Jack, as birds started circling her head once again 'Now if you don't mind, I'll be off.' She stalked past them, patted the eagle, which woke up quickly, and flew out of the window with it, leaving the Guardians with an awkward silence.


	7. Chapter 7

'Well that was interesting' said Jack quietly. Everyone was staring out of the window that Ava flew out of. Tooth was fuming, but everyone else was just stunned.

'HOW DARE SHE!' shrieked Tooth 'WHAT GIVES HER THE RIGHT TO DO THAT? WHAT DID JACK DO TO _HER_?'

Everyone tried to calm her down, but they were thinking the same thing. Why did Ava hate Jack? Had they met before and gotten into a fight? Everyone was confused.

'What are we going to do about the girl?' asked Bunny 'We must need her, or Manny wouldn't have chosen her to help us!'

'We know that Bunny, but what can we do? She refused, and we can't force her, remember, she's still a child inside.'

'Hey!' interrupted Jack, 'You forced me and I'm seventeen, mentally.'

'No, you're four mentally.' sniggered Bunny quietly

'Shut up kangaroo, or I'll freeze you to the roof-'

Tooth suddenly gasped. 'The fairies sent me a message! Someone broke into the Tooth Palace!'

'Pitch!' shouted North, Jack and Bunny at the same time. Sandy made the image of Pitch above his head, and then the shapes of all the Guardians defeating him.

'Sandy's right,' said Tooth 'let's go.'

* * *

When they arrived, North, Sandy and Bunny on the sleigh, Tooth and Jack flying, everything was calm, no fearlings or Pitch. One of the fairies sped over and started talking hurriedly to Tooth in a language none of the other Guardians could understand. Tooth sped over to the tooth containers, obviously looking for a specific one.

'It was that girl!' she yelled over to the others 'She was the one who broke in and stole one of the containers, and I have no idea which one of these she stole!'

'Should we split up to look all over the wall?' asked Jack

'Yes!' said Tooth, frustrated .

They all split up to look along the endless wall for the missing teeth. Jack sped along to look at the ones from Bugress, because he wanted to see his again. As he was reaching for his, he noticed an empty hole in the wall where a container was missing.

'I found it!' he yelled. The others were there in an instant.

'Ava Oakley' Tooth read out. 'How dare she-'

She was interrupted by Jack. 'Wait-wait, Ava Oakley?' repeated Jack, looking confused 'I recognise that name! She's-she's-oh, I can't remember!'

'Don't worry, Jack.' said Tooth, patting him on the back, calmer now. 'We'll get them back and figure all of this out-'

'Fat chance!' shrieked a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Ava standing by the ledge, holding her container, 'This is mine! What right do you have to keep my memories?' Before anyone could respond, she turned around and flew away, blowing a gust of wind towards them making them all fall over, except Jack, who held onto his staff for balance. Leaving the others, he quickly flew after her. Luckily, he wasn't very far behind her, and he could follow her without being noticed.

He followed her into Bugress forest, and watched her sit down on a branch. She took out the container and held it in her hand for a while, pondering if she should look. Then she decided to look and put her hand on the lid. Jack shot over and tried to snatch the container away from her, but instead he was sucked into her memories with her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: In this story Jack hasn't seen all of his past life, just a few odd memories, including his death.**

The light only lasted a few seconds, and when it disappeared, Jack found himself in a village, the same one he saw in his memories. He was confused for a second, but then the sight of Ava walking in the distance interrupted his puzzled thoughts. He kept his distance, not wanting to get attacked again, and watched as she walked into a school yard. Jack ran after her silently.

'Ha, ha! Everyone, look at this!' came a voice from the yard as Jack approached it. 'She's scared of a little spider!

Jack gasped quietly with shock. What he saw in front of him was himself, his human self, looking about ten, taunting a terrified girl with a spider. The girl's back was facing him so he couldn't see who it was, until she turned around and ran towards the school, crying. He got an even bigger surprise when he saw that it was Ava, but she looked different, her hair was only one shade, very dark brown. Her dress didn't have tree bark patterns, it was just plain brown, and, obviously, she was lacking her wings.

The light appeared again, and this time, Jack was in the same woods that he would be about three hundred years in the future, exactly 20 meters from the lake, which Jack knew because he'd memorised every inch of the woods by heart in his three hundred years of being alone. He spotted both Ava's, sitting on a tree branch, 10 meters high. The human Ava was reading a book, her back leaning against the trunk, and the future Ava was sitting further along the branch, swinging her legs below her.

Jack wondered how the human Ava had gotten up there, there weren't many branches. He continued wondering until he saw himself again, followed by a crowd of what Jack expected to be his friends, running through the trees, looking for something, or someone. They were obviously looking for Ava, because when one of the boys looked up and saw her, he called to his friends.

"Guys! Look who I found" he yelled. His friends joined him in an instant, and started throwing large snowballs at her. She didn't say anything, she just held onto the branch tightly, facing the other way, squeezing her eyes shut. With each hit, More and more tears flowed down her red cheeks.

Jack gasped. Had he really bullied Ava when he was human? He looked back at his human self, who was laughing, and felt awful. He was supposed to be a Guardian! A protector of children! His center was fun, but this was just mean. He flew over to the branch to see closer. Suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain on the side of his head and blacked out, just as the scene disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

When he woke up, he was back in the present, in Bugress Woods. The right side of his head was throbbing painfully and his back was aching. He tried to sit up but felt something holding him down.

"Well, now you know." hissed a voice near his face, making him flinch. He opened his eyes slightly, and saw Ava's face an inch away from his. He gasped and tried to get away, but she had her foot pressing down on his chest, holding him down.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he stuttered, slightly scared by her.

She took her foot of his chest after stamping hard on it, winding him. "Revenge." she glared down at him, "You made my human life hell, so I'm going to make _your_ Guardian life hell. You and your little gang didn't even care when I died, I saw, I was there, just after the Moon brought me back." Jack could see a tear in her eye.

"I-I'm sorry!" he gasped, holding his chest, "I didn't know that I was horrible to you, I only _just_ got my memories back!" He reached for his staff, to pull himself up, but he couldn't find it. "Where is it?" he asked Ava fiercely, he needed his staff. She didn't say anything, she just glanced up at a tree behind him. Jack turned around quickly, and saw that there, at the top of the tall tree, was his staff, hanging from a branch.

"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack is nothing without his stick!" she sang in a sickly sweet voice, giggling innocently, angering Jack. "So how are you going to get it?" And without another word, she flew away, through the forest.

Jack grumbled in frustration. How was he going to get up there? Without his staff he couldn't use his powers as much, it exhausted him.

"This is all my fault," he thought to himself, "I bullied Ava when we were human, and now it's come to this." He sighed and started to climb the tree, but since there were no branches near the bottom, and the trunk was completely flat, it was impossible to climb. Jack yelled, frustrated, kicking the tree, when he heard a fluttering of wings behind him. He gasped, thinking it was Ava, and spun around. Luckily, it wasn't her.

"Jack, it's okay, it's just me." Tooth said worriedly, seeing the scared look on his face. She saw why right away, it was very unusual to see Jack without his staff. "Where's your staff?"

"Up there." Jack gestured towards the tree, "She put it up there, because she knows I can't use much of my powers without it." Tooth noticed that he was very quiet and looking down at his feet. "Jack, what's wrong?"

Jack didn't want to tell her, he knew that she would be angry at him. "Nothing," he lied, "I just really need my staff, I don't like it when I don't have it."

Tooth looked at him carefully, to see if he was lying, but decided to trust him. He was a child after all, and she cared very much for children.

She flew up to the tree and saw the staff hanging from a branch, tangled in leaves. It would have been very hard to get by just climbing the tree, but to her, since she could fly, it was easy. When she floated down to Jack and handed him the staff, he grabbed it and frost appeared over it in an instant.

"Thanks, Tooth." he smiled, and hugged her. "What do we do now?"

"We'll go back to the Tooth Palace, and decide what to do about Pitch there."


	10. Chapter 10

**Ava's POV**

I started crying as soon as I was sure that Jack couldn't see me anymore. Hot tears were streaming down my face, but I tried not to make a noise, which hurt my chest. Why couldn't the Guardians leave me alone? Especially Jack Frost. It didn't matter that he didn't remember being horrible to me, he still had been, and he couldn't change that.

All of a sudden, I realised that I didn't know where I was. I was still in the woods, but this part, I'd never seen. It was a clearing, the ground like a carpet of dead leaves and the outside surrounded with dead, rotting trees. There was very little light, even though there weren't many trees blocking the sun. I called the birds with a whistle, but none came. What kind of place was this where no birds lived, or feared to come near? My wings disappeared suddenly, and I fell to the ground.

"Well, well, who's this?" said a sly voice from behind me. I froze. "A little girl in the middle of the woods, all alone?"

I spun around and saw a tall man with gray skin wearing a long, black robe standing before me. I knew that he wasn't human. Was he a Guardian too?

"Are you one of the Guardians?" I whispered, scared. I wanted to fly away, but my wings wouldn't appear.

The man looked offended. "Of course not! I'm their enemy, Pitch Black, also known as the Boogieman." he looked at me curiously, "Have you met the Guardians?"

I nodded slightly, "They wanted me to help them with something, but I said no."

"Oh, and why did you say no to them, little girl?"

"My name's Ava." I sniffed, "I said no because I hate this boy called Jack Frost."

The man's face lit up, but I had no idea why. I should have been scared of this man, but I wasn't for some reason.

"So you hate the Guardians?" Pitch said near my face, causing me to jump. "That's why you don't want to help them?"

"Well, I don't hate them all, but Sandman hurt my bird, and Tooth shouted at me for attacking Jack." I stood up and faced him, "I-I'm Ava Melody, protector of woodland animals. I don't know why they want me to help them though, I don't know the first thing about kids."

Pitch smiled wickedly. "Do you know anything about scaring them? With your powers?"

"Hmm..." I thought. Did I really want to scare children? They hadn't done anything to me. But I hadn't done anything to Jackson Overland, and he'd bullied me until the day I died.

"Maybe," I smirked, "I mean, kids are horrible creatures, they deserve nightmares to show them that life is unfair." I thought of another point, "Why should some children get a better life than I did? In a world where everything is dark, everyone is equal when they're afraid."

Pitch looked impressed. "Those are very good points, Ava. Now, would you like a little help making these woods a little scarier?" seeing my confused expression, he continued, "Observe.." Pitch saw a little squirrel scurrying by my feet. He picked it up by it's tail, and it started to turn black, spreading from the tip of it's furry tail to it's cute little nose. When it was completely black, it still looked adorable.

"You just changed the colour." I said, picking it up carefully, "How is it different?" Suddenly, the squirrel snapped at me, showing that it's two top teeth and bottom teeth had turned sharp like a knife. I squealed and put it down on the ground quickly, where it's scurried off through the trees.

"Don't worry!" laughed Pitch, "He won't attack either you or me, but when he bites humans or Guardians, they'll be knocked out by my nightmares." He started laughing and I joined in.

Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and black sand started snaking up my arm, and covering my whole my whole body in black. I screamed but he stopped me.

"Don't worry, this is just so you can create and control your own nightmare creatures." said Pitch, just as the sand disappeared. I blinked and felt different. I grinned and turned all my birds dark. Then I noticed some black horses behind him.

"Hey, what are those?" I asked.

"Oh, these?" Pitch pointed at the horses, "These help me spread the nightmares, climb on, and I'll show you."

I jumped on and the horse instantly panicked. It tried to shake me off, but i placed my hand on it's head. It calmed down and looked straight ahead.

"Well," said Pitch, impressed, "you really are good with animals, Ava."

I smiled. "Well, it's in the job. Now, lead the way!"

And just like that, the horses rode off into the darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

"We've found out where Pitch is," said North, "he's in Bugress."

Jack groaned. "Why always there? What's so special about that one place?"

"Well at least we know where he is, so we can go stop him."

They went to Bugress their different ways, Bunny through his tunnels, North on his sleigh, Sandy, Tooth, and Jack flying. When they arrived at Bugress they didn't have to look far until they found Pitch. He was floating up on a nightmare sand cloud way above the town, nightmares leading to every house, leading from him. Jack shot ice at Pitch, but suddenly, a cloud of dark birds flew in front of him, blocking the ice from hitting him.

"What? Birds?" he said to himself, puzzled. But then Pitch hit him with nightmare sand and sent him crashing to the ground. He heard Tooth scream, "Jack!" in the distance, but he couldn't see where. Suddenly, he felt something fall on top of him, right on his chest. Opening his eyes, he saw Bunny lying in a heap beside him.

"Ow, thanks for the soft landing mate!" he said in his thick Australian accent, chuckling. "What were those bears doing? I thought that Pitch could only make the nightmare horses!"

"I don-Ow!" Jack yelled out as Tooth, North, and Sandy landed on top of him. "Guys? What happened?"

"The animals." said Tooth. "But I don't know how Pitch is controlling them, it's weird."

The darkness suddenly disappeared and turned into one long shadow in the form of Pitch, leading from behind them. They gasped and turned around, and saw Pitch looking down at them like they were little children.

"Pathetic." he sneered, "The Guardians, the mighty protectors of children, all sitting below on the ground, like weak children!"

"How are you controlling the animals, Pitch?" yelled Jack, "You're not powerful enough to create this many nightmares, how are you doing it?"

"He's not," called a familiar voice as Ava's small figure stepped out from the shadows, wearing a sickly sweet smile. "All these beauties are mine." she said, gesturing to the dark woodland animals that were now surrounding them, a commandment away from attacking them.

"Ava, stop this!" demanded Tooth, standing up. "What the hell did Jack do to lead you to join _Pitch_?" she spat his name.

Ava looked confused. "You mean he hasn't told you?" she laughed, her eyes flashing yellow. "He's joined you and he still can't trust you!"

"Jack, what-" Tooth started, leading to an argument between them.

Sandy was the only one who saw what happened to her eyes, even if it was only for a second, he could recognise nightmare control anywhere. He started making images above his head but none of the Guardians noticed, as usual. He crossed his arms, annoyed, and noticed that Pitch and Ava had gone, leaving behind a tooth container.


	12. Sorry, guys!

**Hey readers, really sorry, but I won't be posting the next chapter for a while, since I'm writing my book. But thank you for all of your lovely reviews, and after it's done, I'll definitely carry on the story.**

**Thanks, guys! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

The squabbling stopped immediately when Tooth saw the Tooth Container. She flew straight over to it as soon as she saw it. She didn't say anything, but scanned the container carefully, as if she could see something the others couldn't.

"Guys!" she shouted suddenly, coming to a breakthrough. The other Guardians ran over to her, still a mix of confused and angry. Tooth showed them the box.

"She left it behind?" said North, puzzled, "Maybe she wants us to look?"

Jack wanted to stop them looking, he didn't want them to see how cruel he was to Ava in his human life, but what could he say?

"So, let's see!" said Tooth, unlocking the top of the container, and before any of them could say anything, the bright light engulfed them.

* * *

Pitch and Ava were back in the middle of the woods, she was sitting on a log, bored, while he was creating more and more nightmare horses.

"Hey, Pitch?" she said after a while, "Um, I did do the right thing stopping the Guardians, right? It's just, I'm feeling guilty."

Pitch turned around sharply. He'd thought that this would happen.

"Well of course you did, didn't you say yourself, that kids are horrible creatures, and that they deserve nightmares?"

She shook her head, tears brimming, "I don't know why I said that, it wasn't me." she looked up at him, "It must have been something to do with your nightmares! What did you do to me?"

Pitch smirked, "Why, I did nothing, it was all you. You are the one who said those things, it was you who helped me spread all those nightmares." He laughed slightly, trying to get to her, and it was working. She stepped backwards, nearly tripping over a tree stump, and got ready to run. But Pitch wasn't going to let her escape that easily. He grabbed Ava's arm and loads of black sand snaked up he sleeve and covered her whole body, choking her.

The last thing she saw before the darkness took over her mind was her bird, flying into the forest, abandoning her.

* * *

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews, guys! They really make me want to carry on :D**


	14. Chapter 14

Black. Pitch black. That's all I could see. Everywhere I looked, there was just - nothing. No light, no sound, nothing I could touch. What had Pitch done?

"Hello?" I called. No one responded, and I started to become more panicked. "Please! Someone tell me where I am!" I yelled the last words.

Suddenly, a figure loomed out of the darkness, footsteps echoing around somehow. I couldn't tell who it was, as everything was slightly blurry and disorientating.

"Pitch!" I snarled, clenching my fists. I wanted to punch every part of him over and over for what he did.

"Nope." chuckled a familiar deep voice. I froze just as Jackson Frost walked up to me, a big sly smirk on his face. Not the winter spirit, the human boy who I hated with al my heart.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I spat, clenching my fists harder, wanting to punch him harder than Pitch.

"Oh, weak little Ava." He mocked, "Still have no friends, after three hundred years? Well, it's no different from your human life is it?"

"Stop it." I snapped, pushing him away, but he still walked towards me.

"No one cared, you know, when you died. You were always so alone and miserable, you ruined everyone else's day."

"That's not true." I mumbled, even though I knew it was. Everyone in the village felt uncomfortable around me, probably because I had no friends and I spent most my time in the woods, reading. I lifted my head and looked jackson straight in the eye. "You're not real, you're just in my head, leave me alone!" I shouted, storming right through him.

i laughed weakly, relieved, but then a haunting voice reached my ears.

"Well, well, Ava Melody, I speculate that you think that you'll be alright now." Pitch chuckled, "Well, think again, child. I'm going to make you relive your worst memories over and over again!"

Before I could scream, he threw nightmare sand at me and suddenly, I was falling down, down through a spiral of hellish memories.


	15. Chapter 15

They had searched for hours all around Bugress, but to no avail. They had seen the memories, and now Jack knew what they had to do to cooperate with Ava. Finally, he spotted a strange light coming from behind the trees below him.

"There!" He whispered to Tooth, and she signalled to the others. Bunny was looking very green after the sleigh ride.

"Jeez, North!" he whispered loudly, "Would 'ya land this bloody thing?"

North rolled his eyes. "No, Bunny, we have a Boogeyman to defeat before Christmas!" He looked down at the woods carefully, "Ah, yes! I can see the light! I wonder what they're doing?"

Suddenly, a piercing scream reached their ears, causing them all to jump in fear. After a split second, the sleigh pelted towards the ground at high speed, followed by Jack and Tooth. The sleigh landed with a crash (as usual), and they jumped out and ran towards where they saw Pitch's shadow standing.

"Pitch!" shouted North, arming himself with his swords. "What have you done to Ava?"

Pitch's shadow didn't move, but his voice echoed around them.

"Why, I haven't done anything to the sweet little child, it was her choice to fight against you, and that's what she's going to do!"

"But we heard a scre-" Jack was cut off as they all, but Sandy, fell to the ground in agony. The dark animals had run at them and attacked them harshly, causing much more pain than normal animals would. They turned around quickly as they heard giggles from behind them. Ava was standing there, but she looked very different.

Her beautiful brown hair and wings had turned jet black, and so had her dress, which was also now frayed at the bottom. She also had dark green vines snaking up her arm, looking like long gloves. She was smiling at them, cocking her head, so that she looked a bit like a creepy doll.

"Ava, please! You don't want to help Pitch!" shouted Tooth, trying to get up, but the animals snapped at her, making her fall down.

"Well of course I do!" she giggled, and stepped forward into the candlelight, which showed her haunting, golden eyes, identical to Pitch's. "Aw, look at you! The Guardians of children, you'll protect them, but who'll protect you?"

The Guardians eyes widened as she repeated what Pitch had once said to them. Her golden eyes gazed down at them, and so did the good Ava, trapped inside the dark Ava's head. The scene was happening before her eyes, but she couldn't do anything, as if it was a movie.

"I am!" she screamed, "I'll protect them from you, you monster!" She squeezed her eyes shut, but wet tears still ran down her hot cheeks when no one responded. Even someone taunting her would be more enjoyable than watching herself fighting the Guardians.

Suddenly, Ava felt excruciating pain in her side and she collapsed onto her knees. She opened her eyes to see that the bad Ava and Pitch were fighting the Guardians fiercely. Blood was gushing from her side, staining her dress red. Obviously it couldn't kill her, but that didn't mean that it wasn't very painful.

"Stop it!" she screamed so loudly that it came out of the dark Ava's mouth, startling all the Guardians and Pitch. She didn't have time to hesitate, "This isn't me!" she shouted, "It's Pitch, he's controlling me, help me!"

Pitch, furious, flew over to Ava and grabbed her arm once more, causing more black sand to snake up it. The Guardians yelled something muffled, but Ava didn't hear them properly, the darkness was already drowning and choking her once more.

Jack shot a bolt of ice at Pitch, causing him to fall into the trees, and the Guardians to go and chase him. Jack stayed behind and ran to Ava. "Ava!" gasped Jack, "Are you alright?"

"Why yes, Jack, I'm fine." she said, hiding her golden eyes. Jack sighed with relief and turned away, to fetch his staff, which he'd dropped accidentally. Dark Ava smirked and grabbed him by the throat and pushing him against a tree, cutting off his air supply.

"Please, Ava, stop!" he choked out,

"_I'm_ not Ava," she whispered, chuckling slightly, "That Ava is gone, dead."

"No!"

"I don't know why you care so much. You hated her when you were both alive, now you care for her? What changed, Frostbite?"

Jack didn't know how to answer. Even if he did, he wouldn't have time to, because at that moment, Sandy's whip shot out from behind the trees and caught Ava's wrist, causing her to drop Jack.

"You know, this is all very amusing." said Pitch and Ava simultaneously, proving that she was just a puppet to him, "But we're done here now." As they turned around, all the Guardians (except Sandy) yelled the same thing;

"Let Ava go!"


	16. Chapter 16

"No." Pitch didn't turn around, but Jack was certain that he had a smug smile on his face, just like he did in Antarctica. He wanted to chase them once more, but North grabbed his arm, and shook his head sadly, there was nothing that they could do.

Suddenly, a little bird flew past Jack's head, at Pitch. This bird was very unlike the others. Instead of being black, it was bright and colourful, like it should be. It flew straight at Pitch's head, and started pecking him, obviously vaguely aware of what was happening.

"Go away, idiotic creature!" Pitch sneered, and kicked the little robin away. No sooner had he done that, he was hit by an enormous gust of wind, coming from Ava's wings. The strong wind lifted him up off the ground and shoved him into the trees again and again, hurting him. The animals, now their normal colours, started attacking him; biting him, clawing at him, scratching him, making him run away, further and further into the forest.

Ava took a relived breath and turned to face the Guardians. But, as she stepped forward, Pitch's lethal black arrow shot out from the trees, aiming straight for the Guardians. Ava yelped and flew at them, causing the arrow to hit her in the chest, and sending her flying across the clearing.

"Ava, no!" yelled Jack, running forwards and catching her as she landed. He saw that one of he wings had been torn by the arrow. She looked up at him with teary eyes, and for the first time in three hundred years, she didn't hate him.

A single tear rolled Ava's cheek as the sand covered her body, and she turned into dust.

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**I'm really sorry that this chapter is so short, I've been really busy with school work. Anyway, thanks for the lovely reviews!**


	17. Chapter 17

"You have done well, child." came a loud, though gentle voice. I was standing in the woods again, but I was by myself.

"Man in Moon?" I questioned, puzzled.

"After three hundred years, you still remember my voice."

"Why am I here?"

"Don't you remember, child? You died."

I sighed, exasperated, "Yes, I know, _again_. But why am I alive again, in the woods?"

The moon shone down at me, hurting my eyes a little. I could almost sense that he was smiling.

"I am afraid that you are still dead, but as you risked your life for your friends, and defeated Pitch, I have decided to give you another chance."

"Okay then-"

"But," he cut across me, "I must show you something first."

A memory box appeared in my hands. "Why do want me to look at my memories again?"

But, to my annoyance, he didn't answer me, and I was pulled into my memories. I appeared in the woods again, why was it always there? Looking up, I saw myself, my human self, looking about the same, about thirteen, reading in a tree. I smiled, I loved doing that, it was the one thing I could do to get away from everyone, and have a few peaceful hours to myself. That is, until I saw Jack climb up the branches without the past me noticing.

I frowned. I didn't remember this memory. Was this real?

"Um, Ava?" said the past Jack quietly, receiving a high-pitch scream from the past me.

"What?" she snarled, giving him a dirty look.

"I-I wanted to say sorry about yesterday, I didn't want to be mean and hurt you, I was just having fun."

Past-me snorted but still looked angry, "I know, that's all you ever do."

Jack paused and reached for something in his cloak. I saw that it was a book, my favourite book, one that I'd borrowed from his sister once.

"Here," he placed the book on top of the other open book, "Emma said that she'd gotten tired of it, and I wanted you to have it."

She was silent as she stared at the book, a dozen emotions crossing her face at once. "Bu-but, I thought you didn't like me-"

I was cut off as he kissed my cheek softly. "Ava," he smiled, "I have always liked you, I just didn't know how to tell you."

"So you throw rocks and tease me instead?"

Jack sighed, "I did it to get your attention, I'm so-"

He was cut off when she flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I forgive you," she whispered, smiling.

There was silence for a bit before he grinned happily, "Well, now that we're friends, will you do me the honour of being my partner for the town dance next week?" he did a bow that caused Past-Ava to giggle.

"Oh, good sir, I accept your offer to the dance," she said in a posh accent, and doing a curtsy.

Jack's eyes lit up as he slid off the branch and started climbing down the tree.

"I'll see you in the classroom tomorrow!" he called cheerfully, waving.

I stood frozen in shock. What had just happened? Were Jack and I friends? Why didn't I remember this? Was this real?

I stood there, pondering for about five minutes, when my thoughts were interrupted by a loud _crack_ I heard above me. I looked up curiously, and saw the worst. The branch Past-me was sitting on was dangling vertically on by merely a millimetre of brittle wood. Past-Ava looked petrified, and her eyes was filled with terrified tears. I didn't have time to do anything, before the branch completely snapped and tumbled down, thirty feet, with Past-Ava still clinging on to it, her hair flying around her face.

Turning away and squeezing my eyes shut didn't block out the horror in the slightest. The screaming Past-me did when she was falling stopped immediately when I heard a dull _thud _behind me. I didn't want to turn around, it would make me feel sick, but it wasn't as horrific as I first thought. She was lying face-down in the grass, with her hair covering her face. There was no blood or broken bones, it almost looked as though she was sleeping.

Suddenly, I felt angry, "Why are you showing me this?" I yelled at the moon angrily, "And why can't I remember? What was the point in you wiping my death from memory, and then showing it to me when I die _again_?" I realised that I was screaming, and covered my hand with my mouth, hot tears pouring down my cheeks, "W-why?" I choked out.

Finally, he spoke, "Having you remember your own death, I suspected,would be too hard on you." he answered simply, "I erased your memory of that day, and made you the protector of woodland animals, since it was your favourite place when you were human, and gave you wings so that you'd never have to fall ever again."

I sniffed tearfully "Well, thank you, I guess," was the last thing I said before everything disappeared.

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**Okay, I have a bit of apologising to do. I am _so_ sorry that I haven't updated for what feels like five years, I had really bad writers block and then forgot about the story for a while, and also had to spend time with my family, so yeah, I'm really sorry.**

**Second of all, I realise now that this chapter is quite confusing. Basically, Manny erased her death from her memories, because he didn't want her to have to remember. But that means, that she never remembered forgiving Jack. Manny's showing this to her now because he wanted her to, you know, not be mad with the Guardians and stuff, I dunno, (I've seriously got to plan my stories better) **

**P.S. Tell me if you would prefer Jack and Ava to be just friends or, you know, more than friends *wink* (God, I'm _so_ mature)**

**And, as always, thanks for the lovely reviews!**


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